UPS Uniforms Hoax

Summary:
Email claims that a large quantity of UPS uniforms have been bought on eBay and that the uniforms could be used by criminals or terrorists posing as delivery drivers (Full commentary below.)


Status:
False

Example:(Submitted, November 2006)


Commentary:
At face value, this email warning sound frighteningly plausible. However, it is nothing more than an urban legend that has been circulating for several years. Current submissions indicate that this hoax email is once again gaining momentum.

The message was not sent by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security nor any other government agency. Nor is their any record of large purchases of United Parcel Service uniforms on eBay. According to a 2003 Washington Post article, the claims in the message have been denied by UPS, the FBI and eBay.

The FBI has debunked several similar UPS stories since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. UPS spokeswoman Susan Rosenberg in Atlanta says the e-mail has been "thoroughly investigated" by the FBI and local law enforcement. "It is the urban legend of missing uniforms," she says.

EBay spokesman Kevin Pursglove also says the UPS story "comes up empty."

Moreover, eBay now restricts listings of "any article of clothing or identification relating to transportation security or employment with any transportation related industry". This restriction includes non-government mail service uniforms such as those worn by UPS employees.

Even if individual uniform items slipped through this restriction, a large quantity of UPS uniforms listed for sale would almost certainly have been blocked before purchase.

In the past, eBay did allow the sale of UPS uniforms. In fact, rumours about large purchases of UPS uniforms may have sprung from the presence of such listings on various auction sites. The apparent willingness by some bidders to pay very high prices for such uniforms may also have raised suspicions and further fuelled the rumours. However, thorough investigation by the FBI found no evidence linking the purchase of these uniforms to terrorist activities. Furthermore, although some uniforms were bought, there were no reports to back up the claims that very large quantities of uniforms were purchased over one thirty day period.

There are several slightly different versions of the message, all referring to large purchases of United Parcel Service uniforms on eBay. Later versions tack on the signature of one "Kimberly Bush-Carr" from Homeland Security, apparently to add a bogus sense of authority to the story.

Of course, criminals have used government and company uniforms to help them commit misdeeds in the past and are bound to do so again. Uniforms can help us to identify certain employees such as law enforcement personnel or postal workers, but a uniform alone is not enough to conclusively verify the wearer. If in doubt, we should always verify the wearers of such uniforms by other means.

That said, passing on this bogus warning will only serve to cause unnecessary fear and alarm among recipients and waste the time of those obligated to answer queries about its claims from concerned citizens.

Examples of other versions:



UPS Rumors Are Uniformly Wrong
eBay: Government and Transit Uniforms
It's Amazing What You Can Find Online

Last updated: 22 November 2006
First published: 2003

Write-up by Brett M.Christensen